Ask God For Good Gifts
A young boy named Liam harbored a profound desire, one that went beyond material possessions. He longed for more time with his dad, who, due to work commitments, seemed constantly occupied. What Liam didn’t understand is that his father was self-employed. He had the power to work the number of hours he wanted to work. Liam’s dad, a dedicated provider, often spoke about the importance of hard work. Fearing his dad’s disapproval and the strain it might place on their already busy lives, Liam kept his heartfelt wish to himself. As the days and weeks went by, the ache in Liam’s heart intensified. Finally, on a quiet evening, he mustered the courage to sit with his father. With tears in his eyes, Liam shared his longing for more moments together, beyond the constraints of work and responsibilities. To Liam’s surprise, his dad’s reaction wasn’t frustration or disappointment but a compassionate understanding. Embracing his son, Liam’s dad acknowledged the importance of their bond and expressed excitement about spending more time with his son.
God is not busy. He doesn’t run short of time or money. When we avoid asking God for things out of fear of putting Him out, we show that our view of God is too small.
I hate asking for things. I’m an enneagram three, and I would much prefer to impress people with how little I need than appear to be needy. But how ignorant is that? Our filthy-rich, crazy-powerful Heavenly Father tells us to ask Him for stuff, and we don’t do it. Jesus tells us to ask Him for what we want.
Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”
This passage is difficult for me because I have been burned by the prosperity gospel. Preachers have told me that I’m not getting what I ask for from God because there is too much sin in my life or because I don’t have enough faith. I have spent too many years trying to contort my brain to believe more, to make my faith more blind and naïve.
One of my high school teachers convinced me that, if I believed enough, God would give me a Lamborghini. The problem is that God didn’t give me a Lamborghini. In fact, I drive a minivan. Yes, I’m that guy. But what did God give me? He gave me the realization that it would be really dumb for me to have a Lamborghini. My son’s car seat wouldn’t fit.
As my faith has matured (and that is definitely a work in progress) the things I ask for in prayer have changed. In fact, every day I start my daily quiet time prayer with this: “God, what do you want me to pray about?” And the prayer that He gives me is almost never about me. As a result, my prayers have become less focused on me and more focused on others. I spend more time in intercession, in prayer for other people.
God answers our prayers. Sometimes His answer is “yes.” Sometimes it’s “no.” Today’s passage is about the good gifts that God gives His children, but only He truly knows which gifts are good gifts.
In the chapter before today’s passage, Jesus told us how not to pray.
When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
7 When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. 8 Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!
The question then becomes, if God already knows what we need, why does He want us to ask? To answer that, I need to give three of the reasons we should pray:
- Relationship
Prayer is about much more than getting things from God. The primary purpose of prayer is relationship. There is no greater blessing that we can receive than the blessing of a relationship with the God of the universe. If I pray to God to ask Him for a Lamborghini, but neglect a relationship with the one who I am praying to, I have sacrificed something great to potentially get something small.
- Obedience
A second reason to pray is obedience. The Bible commands us to pray. Even when we don’t understand why God commands us to do something, we do it because we have faith that His plans are better than our plans. The great heroes of the Christian faith prayed even after they received clear instructions from God. Moses, David, Jeremiah, and even Jesus prayed.
- Humility
Prayer humbles us. It reminds us of our limits and God’s sovereignty. God knows what we need. However, in order to invest in our relationship with God, remain obedient to Him, and humble ourselves before Him, we pray.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
If God gives us good gifts, and if He lifts us up in honor, we would be wise to bring bold and extravagant requests to God. Christ told us to ask for the things we want, and those requests do impact God’s actions.
You don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.
Apparently, God has good gifts that He wants to give us, but He will not give them to us unless we ask. I don’t understand why, but that is what He does.
